Arch Enemy, “The Eagle Flies Alone” – A Left Hand Interpretation

I’ve heard this song a couple of times before, but I never really paid attention to the lyrics until just recently. I was pleasantly surprised by the contents!

Disclaimer… I am not claiming this is “the” meaning of the song… this is just how I interpret it from a Left Hand perspective! I’m also very tired so this might not be my best writing.

Verse One

When I was born the seed was sown
I will not obey, my life is my own
Battle rose, which do enslave me
Exposed lies that enrage me

I don’t believe in heaven, I don’t believe in hell
Never joined the herd, could not adjust well
Slave and master, it’s not for me
I chose my own path, set myself free

One’s nature is just there, I bow to no man! I don’t believe in the lies of Christianity or Islam and their influences on forming Western society. Hence not believing in Heaven or Hell (interestingly Judaism has no Hell, just Sheol, the grave).

One doesn’t join the herd, they can’t live that life. A lot of this I think speaks to people who’ve adopted the westernized style of the Left Hand Path, myself included (although now of course my understanding is more traditional). If you gave me these lyrics and didn’t tell me they were Arch Enemy I would of assumed a Satanist or some other LHP type wrote this.

Chorus

I, I go my own way
I swim against the stream
Forever I will fight the powers that be

I, I go my own way
I swim against the stream
Forever I will fight the pοwers that be
The eagle flies alone

A later verse mentions rising again and with the eagle motif I almost get the sense of fire in the “set myself free” part in the first verse in a kind of Promethean sense, particularly since hardship is associated with this as we see in the “swim against the stream”. I’ve often heard it said that Satanism is the path of most resistance.

Now, as far as “fight the powers that be” we can take this a few ways. From a symbolic Satanist standpoint, this would fit perfectly in fighting cultural and religious dogma. However as more of a pantheist, I could take this in the perspective of the human powers who shape society according to their cultural ideas. The idea is the same but in my case I give less of a supernatural connotation to it (ironically).

I think it’s very common for Left Hand Path practitioners to be solitary, hence “the Eagle flies alone”. Even in Hindu LHP traditions most sects have practitioners very isolated most of the time. In either case the LHP journey starts within and focuses on the individual level and so by necessity we must “fly alone”. It can be a lonely path, but again, we “swim against the stream” hence the path of most resistance.

Verse 2

Reject the system that dictates the norm
This world is full of lies and deceit
I ask my own betrayal, cut so deep
Suffered defeat only to rise again

The first line of this pretty much says they are rejecting orthodoxy. The Left Hand Path, being heterodoxy, is then what is the next logical step. Although in a Hindu understanding the RHP and LHP can be in harmony, it often isn’t. In terms of western styled LHP sects, there really isn’t a true “Right Hand Path” to contrast it against, but we can still compare the modern Left Hand Path against orthodoxy within it’s society. We often are blind to how much of a grip Christianity has on America and some other western countries in terms of social norms, particularly religious movements originating from the Victorian Era and the 1800’s and with the rise of Evangelicalism.

Those mores and norms, which the LHP is opposed to, ARE lies and deceit betraying our true nature as both spiritual and carnal beings. As both animals and gods.

I’m not sure what to make of the line about betrayal, but I again get the sense from the defeat and rising again ,with the Eagle motif to kind of be of fire, like a phoenix or Prometheus. Perhaps just like Prometheus, it is to say, from a LHP perspective that we suffer and are punished for the enlightenment we bring. Again, this fits going against the stream.

Closing Words

Well that’s how I see it, from a Left Hand perspective. I don’t claim this is how the song is meant to be interpreted, but I highly suspect it’s along the same line of thinking that’s evolved in westernized LHP thought even if it has little to no knowledge of it. I’ve always said that Satanism starts with individualism so it’s not surprising that the same ideas would be realized independently by different sources.